The research may be viewed as two sides of the same coin, i.e. 1) the analysis of nucleic acid structure as revealed by electron micrographs and 2) the computer synthesis of the secondary structure of the nucleic acid molecule, given the sequence of bases in their known order, the synthesis being based on thermodynamic (minimum free energy) considerations. Novel methods of representing structure are being developed as well as interactive programs which allow clarification of structure by removal of overlapping elements, without disturbing base relationships. Exploration of algorithms which will measure non-simple similarity has also begun. Both aspects would benefit from information provided by the other and one of the eventual goals is a combined analysis-synthesis procedure, which will reduce the huge combinatoric overload of secondary structure computation, and which will eliminate the ambiguities of the electron-micrographic images of the partially denatured nucleic acid molecules.